Truth will always prevail over lies and deceit no matter the manner it is presented, elders statesmen of southeast extraction, under the aegis of Igbo Patriotic Forum, said yesterday.
They stated this in reaction to the declaration of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, as Nigeria’s next leader by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
Addressing journalists in Abuja, the Chairman of the Forum, Simon Okeke, described the February 25 presidential election as a ‘monumental fraud’.
However, he urged Nigerians, especially those in the South East to ensure they exercised their franchise during the March 11 Governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections in their domains.
Okeke, a former Chairman of the Police Service Commission, PSC, said: “Our eloquent voice with our votes has been mischievously suppressed, distorted, mutilated and the world was fed with a falsified result which has been formally rejected by both Mr. Peter Obi, presidential candidate of Labour Party and Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of Peoples Democratic Party.
“The judicial search for justice will soon begin and by the grace of God, truth will ultimately triumph over naked lies dished out as being the result of the presidential election.
“Unfortunately, we now have to wait for the courts to determine the actual winner of this election.
Nevertheless, we still call upon the good people of this country, the youths and elders, to remain calm and law-abiding as this process progresses. ‘Weeping may endure for the night, but joy cometh in the morning.’
“This, we believe, will be the testimony of all those that came out in their droves to vote for a competent and strong principled leadership at the just concluded elections.”
Despite this monumental fraud, we should not lose hope since we are on the road to seek justice in the Courts. We pray that God will give our judiciary the courage to uphold justice and truth in deciding this case.
“Having said this, we wish to call upon our people again to come out on Saturday, March 11, and exercise their legitimate right to vote for the candidates of their choice at the forthcoming gubernatorial and state houses of assembly election,” he stressed.